“The Raiding Dutchmen: Colonial Stereotypes, Identity and Islam in Indonesian B-movies” by Eric Sasono

In Indonesia, there exists a long action film tradition in which the Dutch colonizers are stereotypically portrayed as the perpetrating villains and the Indonesian protagonists as heroes. These films can be categorized according to the time period they portray: kompeni films, which is Indonesian for Company, as this type of film takes place during the long colonial period during which the Dutch East India Company was active in the Indonesian archipelago, and perjuangan films, Indonesian for struggle, concern the Indonesian war of independence (1945-1949).

This article finds that Indonesian B-movies from the 1970s and 80s represent the Dutch as stereotypical  immoral and greedy perpetrators in opposition to the Indonesian protagonists who are presented as righteous hero characters. Through this binary “othering” of the Dutch colonizer, Sasono argues, these films contribute to the cultural construction of the national identity of the relatively new Indonesia. More specifically, Sasono argues that the religious values reflected in the characters, which concur in particular with Islamic values, contribute to shaping and inspire modernization in its viewers according to the values of the nation’s biggest religion.

This article discusses the cultural representations of Dutch colonial perpetrators in film, and gives insight into the role of popular film in the formation of identity in the postcolonial situation. The topic of colonial perpetratorship has not yet received substantial scholarly attention. Additionally, Dutch perpetratorship in their former colonies is a very prevalent topic currently in the social debate in the Netherlands. Sasono’s article gives insight in the Indonesian perspective on this perpetration, as it discusses how Indonesian films have portrayed this perpetratorship and to what end these films have contributed to the Indonesian cultural identity.

Author of this entry: Dewi Kopp

Sasono, Eric. “The Raiding Dutchmen: Colonial Stereotypes, Identity and Islam in Indonesian B-Movies.” Plaridel 11, no.2 (August 2014): 23-53.